The hottest Encryption Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Who can you trust?

Glenn’s Substack • 1395 implied HN points • 07 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Questioning the trustworthiness of audio, video, and photographs due to the rise of deepfakes.
  2. Historically, relying on human witnesses has been essential in situations where visual evidence is questionable.
  3. Considering the utilization of specially trained observers, similar to Heinlein's concept of Fair Witnesses, to navigate the challenges of trust in evidence.

The government ordering Apple to break its encryption is stupid, counter-productive and unworkable

Odds and Ends of History • 1340 implied HN points • 10 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. The government's demand for Apple to break its encryption just doesn't make sense. It would create a security risk for everyone, not just criminals.
  2. End-to-end encryption is really important for keeping our data safe. If encryption is weakened, it puts everyone at risk of hacks and privacy violations.
  3. Tech companies like Apple might resist these government orders because it goes against their commitment to privacy. It's not just a principle; it also affects their business and user trust.

The Ethics of Cybersecurity

Rod’s Blog • 615 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Cybersecurity is crucial for protecting personal information, financial assets, intellectual property, critical infrastructure, and national security.
  2. Ethical considerations in cybersecurity include principles like confidentiality, integrity, availability, and justice.
  3. Balancing security and privacy involves strategies like risk-based approaches, data minimization, using encryption, respecting privacy rights, and staying informed about cybersecurity trends.
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Preventing model exfiltration with upload limits

Redwood Research blog • 19 implied HN points • 08 May 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Preventing model exfiltration can be crucial for security; setting upload limits can be a simple yet effective way to protect large model weights from being stolen.
  2. Implementing compression schemes for model generations can significantly reduce the amount of data that needs to be uploaded, providing an additional layer of protection against exfiltration.
  3. Limiting uploads, tracking and controlling data flow from data centers, and restricting access to model data are practical approaches to making exfiltration of model weights harder for attackers.

Encryption bans are doomed

Nick Merrill • 58 implied HN points • 07 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Steganography hides the fact that secret communication is occurring.
  2. Perfect steganography can make encryption bans impractical.
  3. Regulators may shift focus to controlling endpoints for monitoring content and speech.

Oracle-based Conditional payments on Bitcoin

LN Markets’ Newsletter • 58 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Oracle-based Conditional payments introduce a new way to handle conditional payments on Bitcoin by using oracles to attest to real-world events, allowing contracting parties to claim funds based on these attestations.
  2. Conditional payments rely on a third party for attestation, but in Oracle-based payments, the third party only attests events and does not execute contracts, improving security and trust in the process.
  3. Verifiable witness encryption plays a crucial role in setting up Oracle-based Conditional payments, ensuring that contracting parties can trust the oracle's attestations and claim funds accordingly.

Disservice Providers

Technically Optimistic • 19 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are businesses designed to make money, so they may track your data for profit.
  2. Internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon bundle and sell your personal data, including sensitive information, potentially compromising your privacy.
  3. Protect your data by adjusting your privacy settings, using encryption methods like SSL, and being aware of how companies handle your information online.

Why 8(to)7 encryption is snake-oil

Cybersect • 39 implied HN points • 28 May 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. People often invent new encryption algorithms without solid evidence of effectiveness.
  2. Be cautious of encryption claims that use buzzwords and make unreasonable promises.
  3. It's important to seek technical explanations and benchmarks to evaluate the validity of encryption algorithms.

The death of early career gigs, encryption, and the Thread Boys' ascendency

Alex's Personal Blog • 32 implied HN points • 25 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. AI is taking over entry-level jobs, making it harder for newcomers to gain the experience they need. This could leave a gap when it comes to filling senior positions in the future.
  2. Encryption is really important for protecting our information and ensuring a stable economy. Weakening it could lead to big security problems for everyone.
  3. There's a trend of tech billionaires gaining more influence over government. This could change how policies are made, depending on who has the most money to back their causes.

The .zip domains are a good idea

Cybersect • 19 implied HN points • 12 May 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Google offering .zip domains sparked outrage in the cybersec community.
  2. Intolerance for security issues can lead to positive changes in cybersecurity practices.
  3. Challenging the status quo in cybersecurity can drive improvements over time.

Security Is Not An Encryption Problem

Security Is • 1 HN point • 17 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Encryption is important, but it's often treated as a checkbox in cloud environments. Many people believe that encryption at rest and in transit fully secures their data, but this isn't always the case.
  2. In cloud settings, especially with services like AWS, anyone with the right permissions can access data regardless of whether it's encrypted at rest. This means encrypting data on the storage level may not offer as much protection as people think.
  3. Instead of focusing heavily on encryption, businesses should prioritize their access controls and permissions. Properly managing who can access what data is often a much more critical aspect of security.

29/8/2022: Real World Crypto Day tại Hà Nội

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 19 implied HN points • 28 Aug 22
🔮 Crypto Encryption
  1. Real World Crypto Day in Hanoi on 29/8/2022 featured experts discussing important topics like lattice cryptography and security vulnerabilities in popular blockchains.
  2. The event covered a range of practical cryptography topics like key management, secure API design, and research on password storage and encryption techniques.
  3. Vietnam faces a shortage of security solution designers despite having skilled hackers, highlighting the importance of developing more comprehensive cybersecurity expertise.

Attested-enclave networks

Gray Mirror • 33 implied HN points • 10 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. An attested network is like a governed network where every app is like its own government.
  2. Network attestation enhances security by allowing nodes to verify the software running on other nodes.
  3. In an attested network, applications can enforce security measures like expiring messages to prevent unauthorized access.

Beyond the Padlock 🔒: Demystifying TLS - Part 1

Lost In Abstractions • 1 HN point • 11 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. TLS encryption involves various components like digital certificates, public key cryptography, symmetric key encryption, and cipher suites.
  2. A TLS handshake process includes agreeing on a cipher suite, server authentication, session key exchange, and establishing a secure connection.
  3. Version differences in TLS, such as TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, impact the handshake process, with features like forward secrecy in 1.2 and shorter handshakes in 1.3.

Interview with the ETSI Standards Organization That Created TETRA "Backdoor"

Zero Day • 7 HN points • 25 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. TETRA radio communication technology used by police and critical infrastructure was found to have a backdoor, reducing encryption strength.
  2. Keeping encryption algorithms secret can hinder security, as seen in the TETRA case where a deliberate weakness was discovered.
  3. ETSI created new secret algorithms to address vulnerabilities, but the debate continues on whether secrecy is the best approach for security.

Secure Enclaves

Why Now • 5 implied HN points • 03 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Security is a key area for innovation with a focus on problem-solving and wedging opportunities against incumbents
  2. Encrypting data in-use is a challenge in cybersecurity, with solutions like homomorphic encryption and secure enclaves emerging
  3. Secure Enclaves are highly-controlled environments that validate code execution cryptographically, offering a way to protect data in-use

alice and bob

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 19 implied HN points • 23 Mar 08
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. The post discusses the concept of encryption through a rap called "Alice and Bob". It highlights the importance of protecting messages and data.
  2. Various encryption techniques and algorithms like DES, Twofish, and Blowfish are mentioned in the rap, emphasizing the significance of secure communication.
  3. The rap also touches on the importance of random number generation, RSA encryption, and hashing functions like SHA-1 for maintaining data integrity and security.

6 security advancements that Plang offers for the user

Ingig • 0 implied HN points • 13 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Plang has built-in security mechanisms, preventing common issues like SQL injection and XSS, allowing developers to focus more on functionality.
  2. Plang offers password-less authentication using ECC, enhancing security and providing a user-friendly login experience.
  3. Plang promotes privacy through local data storage, preventing large-scale breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Privacy

Ingig • 0 implied HN points • 29 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Storing data locally using PLang can enhance privacy by reducing the risk of data leaks or breaches.
  2. By storing apps like writing, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., on your computer, you can access your data offline, ensure full sync between devices, and encrypt data for security.
  3. PLang offers privacy benefits like encrypted data storage, anonymous registration, and protection against widespread hacking incidents.

Today’s Top 5 HN posts

Top 5 HN Posts of the day • 0 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Scarlett Johansson's statement on OpenAI "Sky" voice was a top post on HackerNews
  2. Enlightenmentware and Copilot+ PCs were also popular posts on HackerNews
  3. The war on encryption, Introduction of Copilot+ PCs, and PostgreSQL time-series extension were among the highlighted topics

How E2E Encryption works it magic? + Signal Protocol

The ZenMode • 0 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Encryption is like a secret code that keeps your information safe and private using algorithms and keys.
  2. End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient can access and read messages, offering a high level of security and privacy.
  3. Signal Protocol, with features like the Double Ratchet Algorithm, is widely used in popular messaging apps to provide strong security for user communications.

RISC-V Vector Cryptography Extension (2/2)

Fprox’s Substack • 0 implied HN points • 20 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. There are new instructions for hash functions like SHA-2 and SM3 in the RISC-V vector cryptography extension.
  2. The Zvkb extension includes instructions for bit manipulation like bit and byte reversal, vector rotations, and carry-less multiplication.
  3. The vector cryptography extensions have specific encodings within the opcode spaces, making them incompatible with certain future extensions.

Advisory: security issues in AWS KMS and AWS Encryption SDKs

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 25 Sep 20
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Security vulnerabilities in AWS KMS and AWS Encryption SDKs included information leakage, ciphertext forgery, and robustness issues.
  2. The vulnerabilities required the release of a new version, 2.0.0, for fixes, highlighting the importance of regularly updating software for security measures.
  3. The vulnerabilities exposed potential attacks related to ciphertext decryption, key replacement, and non-committing property issues, emphasizing the critical need for secure encryption practices.

The Internet of Broken Protocols: Showcase #8

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 16 Oct 19
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Cascading multiple encryption algorithms in a specific order, known as a cascade, may not always improve security as commonly thought.
  2. Analyzing a cascade of MAC and digital signature algorithms can reveal potential vulnerabilities in data protection methods.
  3. Using a combination of GMAC with a digital signature for file integrity may not guarantee security as intended, leading to potential security flaws.

Announcement: Android Jetpack Security library

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 10 May 19
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. The Android Jetpack Security library provides APIs to easily encrypt files and shared preferences, enhancing data security for Android apps.
  2. The library offers a drop-in replacement for SharedPreferences and Editor classes, automatically encrypting/decrypting data to strengthen app security.
  3. Leveraging Android Keystore, the library ensures decryption of files or preferences only after user authentication, adding an extra layer of security to sensitive data.

Sự cố Vietcombank, một góc nhìn kỹ thuật

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 16 Aug 16
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Vietcombank encountered a security incident involving a customer's stolen funds, prompting technical analysis and identification of potential attack methods like phishing and exploiting vulnerabilities in the Smart OTP system.
  2. Smart OTP, a feature of Vietcombank, was found to have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers to gain control over customer accounts, highlighting the importance of robust security protocols in online banking systems.
  3. The importance of independent security audits, continuous monitoring, and prompt responsiveness to security reports is crucial for financial institutions like Vietcombank to safeguard customer data and prevent unauthorized access.

The Internet of Broken Protocols: Showcase #4

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 13 Aug 16
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. The protocol described in the text for generating one-time passwords has vulnerabilities that can allow attackers to gain unauthorized access.
  2. Using insecure communication channels for transferring sensitive information, like one-time passwords, can lead to security flaws.
  3. The importance of forward secrecy in protocols to prevent attacks like the reflection attack highlighted in the text.

iOS and macOS should offer higher opt-in security

Kartick’s Blog • 0 implied HN points • 17 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. iOS and macOS are already secure platforms, but not all security enhancements are suitable for all users.
  2. Apple should allow users to opt-in for higher security settings to enhance protection.
  3. Offering different levels of security options can cater to users with varying security needs and push the industry towards better security practices.

The future of instant messaging

Venture Prose • 0 implied HN points • 15 Feb 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Consider managing instant messaging notifications to avoid being overwhelmed by distractions.
  2. Roze is a messaging app that prioritizes privacy, allowing users to have control over their conversations and notifications.
  3. Roze offers various features like end-to-end encryption, customizable settings, and intimate messaging spaces for specific groups of contacts.

Give Me E2EE or Give Me Death

Seriously Risky Business • 0 implied HN points • 02 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Encryption
  1. Signal is ready to withdraw if forced to weaken encryption for the UK's Online Safety Bill
  2. Regulators are considering shifting liability to software companies for security vulnerabilities
  3. The US government emphasizes transparency in cybersecurity over shifting liability

The Intimacies of Mechanical Things

Cybernetic Forests • 0 implied HN points • 11 Dec 22
🎨 Art & Illustration Encryption
  1. Bani Haykal's work explores human-machine intimacies through interfaces, poetry, and sound, using a mechanical keyboard to encrypt text into languages like Jawi and MIDI values, creating encoded poetry and sound work.
  2. The encryption process in Bani's work is influenced by historical instances like the crypto-Muslim practice during the Spanish Inquisition, showcasing how encryption embodies privacy and secrecy in different cultures.
  3. Bani's exploration of intimacy with devices like mechanical keyboards goes beyond physical proximity to consider transformation and blending, reflecting on how human-machine relationships impact us and our environments.